What Kind of God Do We Have!!??

Good Friday

What kind of a God do we have?

I remember when I saw the movie, The Passion of the Christ, the first time. Probably like many of you, I was stunned by the violence, by the raw hatred, inflicted upon the person who I consider to be God Himself. A god who I believe to be all knowing, all present, and all powerful. A god who is in control of everything and obviously knows what he’s doing. And this god chose to suffer and die this way. If anyone could have prevented this violence upon himself, who could have come down from that cross if he wanted, chose not to. For whatever reasons that I will never fully understand, Jesus submitted to this when he didn’t have to. He chose to.

Just because he wanted to submit to the will of his father. Couldn’t there have been another way? Why like this? I have read and prayed and studied about it, and intellectually I can understand and give good reasons based upon scripture, but still I ask why? Why had the Father chosen this path for his son? Why was pure goodness subjected to pure evil? It doesn’t seem just. It doesn’t seem right.

What kind of god would choose to do this…for me. It is an extremely humbling thing to think that he did all that because of me. Am I really worth that?

One thing that really bothers me is injustice. Even when I watch a movie where the hero is beset by injustice, when he or she is being set up to take the fall, I get physically upset. And I think that’s a universal feeling, because all good stories seem to end with the hero winning in the end. And it’s not just because we like to root for a winner. I think it’s because we all have experienced injustice in our own lives and so need to have hope that justice will ultimately prevail. We will win in the end. There is always hope.

But what is justice? Justice is giving someone what is rightfully theirs, restoring what has been taken away. From God’s point of view justice is not getting what we deserve by our actions but what we deserve simply because he wants us to have it. It is not based upon merit but only because he has created us and has chosen to give us everything we need to know him, love him and be with him. It is pure gift. And God’s justice is tempered by mercy. Without mercy we could have no justice. That’s the kind of god we have. Because that’s what love is and what love does.

Jesus had told his disciples that he would ultimately prevail, that the Son of Man would be glorified, and that his suffering was to fulfill the scriptures, but that didn’t take away the pain and horror of seeing him tortured and crucified. It was the ultimate injustice, and while they had heard his words, the reality of that day came crashing down on them. Even his resurrection three days later did not take away that pain. Only the infusion of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost would help them to understand, to have hope, and to direct their lives fully to the will of God.

Jesus’ journey on this earth began with a young girl saying “let it be done to me according to your word” and ended with him saying “But not my will but yours be done”. Maybe the lesson of Good Friday is that we are all called to make that same choice. Your will be done, Lord. I may never fully understand the why, but I trust in you. I trust that there is a plan, that there is a reason for the way things are. You are God and I am not. Let it be done according to your will. Yes, it is humbling, but it also is liberating. Come let us adore.